TSN’s gang of experts gathered for a grim bit of lockout talk, but the most substantial bit came when Darren Dreger said that the next wave of canceled games could come as soon as next week.

Canceling the first two weeks of the season might pale in comparison to the chunk of contests that could go by the wayside if Dreger’s report is correct.

He claims that the NHL wants to give owners the chance to rent out their buildings to other events in order to recoup some revenue. With that in mind, the next cancellations could be “much bigger” than 82 games.

The owners are greedy hypocrites after signing players to cap circumventing deals and then crying about the fact that they need to lower the players share to stay in the black.

And, the NHLPA voted to max out salary cap escalator every single year since 05-06 knowing that the small market teams would have a tough time reaching the salary cap floor, then turning around and acting astonished when the league needs to reign salaries back in to keep the league competitive.
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You should be disappointed in both sides for acting like morons and then pointing fingers at the other. It’s like a microcosm of the republicans and the democrats. Both sides are wrong!

The best thing that can happen is a mediator but Fehr doesn’t want that because he won’t be able to achieve his ultimate goal of eliminating the salary cap. For any market other than Toronto, Detroit, Montreal, or New York THAT’S BAD NEWS! It creates a scenario where YOUR TEAM could be the NHL’s version of the Pittsburgh Pirates. And no fan deserves that! Take it from a Pittsburgher.

I agree that this disagreement is a microcosm of American politics and that the best way to solve the issues is to bring in a mediator but it’s obvious that the players are the lesser of two evils. Fehrs mentioning of the elimination of the salary cap is a hollow threat, brought up in response to Bettmans claim that the owners will not be held to negotiations based off of the last CBA while holding the players to their agreement to allow increased escrow. The owners got everything they wanted in 04-05 with a 24% pay cut to players salaries and the implementation of a hard salary cap. The 57% was thrown in as an afterthought to appease the players after losing a years salary. Bettman and the owners paraded the salary cap as the solution to all the leagues problems … it would cut all costs, cut player salaries, and cut the cost of ticket prices for all fans. But they completely miscalculated how the leagues popularity would grow over the last seven years, and they see that $3.3 billion and their mouths start watering. I understand that teams are losing money and I think that 57% is unfair but it was Bettmans decision to expand into the sun belt. And that expansion is at the root of all financial instability. The owners refuse to admit their mistakes and instead their solution is to take back money they handed out while circumventing their own system. They refuse to acknowledge any ideas involving revenue sharing or a soft salary cap because its “socialism” and goes against the free market. I am angry with Fehr and the union but it would have been possible to play under the current cba while negotiating instead of using the lockout to twist the unions arm. If Bettman stopped acting as if he is the be-all end-all, the final say on all hockey related debate and Fehr stopped acting as if players are being persecuted we would have a solution quickly formulated. But when it comes down to it, the greed of the owners is dwarfing the greed of the players when it comes to the cause of this lockout. If Bettman wants his pet project (southern teams) to survive he needs consider other solutions along with reducing the players 57% share. Until he does that we won’t have NHL hockey.

I simply can’t take a lesser of two evils stance when Fehr’s ideal scenario would further widen the disparity between the rich and the poor teams.

Each of us would love to eliminate the financial weight that Phoenix, and Anaheim and Dallas, and Columbus and the Islanders…etc…… consistently create for the success of the rest of the league. But I’m not willing to blow up the salary cap so Toronto, Detroit, Montreal and New York can outspend everyone every year and create a playoff scenario that looks more like an overplayed record than a post season.

If we we’re talking about unfair work conditions and an honest days wage, I’d back the players without question. But at this point, the NHLPA is simply not trying to find a happy medium because of personal pride while there are a bunch of everyday people who maintain the rinks and run the concession stands who are out of work. That’s not right!

I can’t say that I disagree with you on anything you just said. I just think it’s the owners that brought us into this situation but the players have definitely furthered the partisan disagreements. I don’t think Fehr is legitimately asking for the elimination of the salary cap, he’s just trying to return some of the pressure that the owners have been putting on the union. There needs to be a salary cap to keep the league from becoming the mlb. But Bettman is holding out, refusing to acknowledge any alternate solutions other than taking back player salaries. In general I agree with most everything you say though.

See, I think eliminating the salary cap has been Fehr’s goal all along. That’s why he has passive aggressively brought up the idea multiple times since June.

Plus there has to be something to the reports that the NHLPA proposal(s) have never been official, rather they’ve just been rough outlines or ideas. In my mind its essentially like the kid who was asked to complete an assignment and just handed in all his notes.

I think Fehr is dragging his feet with respect to negotiating because he wants the salary cap to be put on the table. The only way to get around all this BS is with a mediator that tugs at them both like a parent working out a dispute between two children.

The salary cap allowed for the parity that has occured. It is why sooo many of us we’re sucked in over the last 7 years and why the NHL’s revenue went above an beyond any and all projections.

Maybe Columbus and the NYI know they are going to stink, but pretty much everyone else potentially is brimming with hope each October. That kind of parity is the reason why football is like a religion in North America.

Bettman and his owner’s may be greedy hypocrits but at least they want to create a more successful league. Even if they get richer, 51% of a metaphorical beachball makes the player’s more money than 57% of the current metaphorical soccerball.

Fehr though has no interest in the league or hockey in general. His interests are to get the players paid and to get himself paid. Therefore in my mind he is the larger evil.

IMO the reports you are hearing about the Unions proposals being nothing more than rough outlines are based off the press releases put out by Bettman and the league. Both sides are trying to get the upper hand in the PR battle (eventhough it means nothing to the negotiations) and they transparently attempt to put out misinformation to gain the support of the fans/media. But the major disagreement I would have with what you say is that Bettman and the owners want to create a more successful league. I would buy that argument in 04-05 when a struggling league needed a complete renovation but not now. This lockout was implemented by the owners for one sole reason: greed. It was absolutely not in the leagues best interest to make the decision to shut down after the game reached its peak of popularity and obtained record revenues over the past few years. It’s obvious that Bettman cares only about the financial success of the owners and not the overall success of the league, even if the owners financial standing is tied to the leagues fiscal success. If the owners are successful than Bettman can legitimately pay himself $8 million a year. You say Fehr has no stake in the game of hockey because he’s an MLB guy… but what about Gary Bettman? He’s a condescending new yorker that came from the NBA, he’s directly caused three lockouts (two in less than 8 years), he was solely responsible for the sun belt expansion that is the root cause for so many teams being in the red, he refuses to acknowledge the idea of revenue sharing because the top owners only want to hoard their wealth, he claimed the salary cap would solve all issues and we wouldn’t have to go through this lockout bs every 6-8 years. You say Fehr’s only interest is to “get the players paid and himself paid” but that could easily define Bettman’s reasons for locking the league out, if you just replace the word “players” with “owners”. I don’t like Fehr but Bettmans motives have been completely self-centered since the first day he became commissioner. He has to protect his ridiculous salary by protecting the interests of the wealthiest owners. If the old CBA was such a detriment to the league then how come half the league spent over $200 million handing out contracts up until minutes before the old deal expired? It’s the ultimate hypocrisy and it starts at the top.

You may be absolutely right regarding the league’s stance on the union proposals. I’m as sick of the PR related stuff as you are. However, I think it is way too easy to make Bettman the face of everyone’s hatred because of people’s need to take sides. Both sides are hypocrites! Taking sides simply allows one band of hypocrites to trump another. I don’t want to go down that path. And the more successful the league the happier I am.

Now, what is currently going on is doing nothing more than tearing the league down. So, I will give you:

-Could the owners have continued to negotiate under the framework of the old CBA? Absolutely!

-Was there any reason to submit an initial proposal that players and fans alike looked at and laughed? Nope, not at all!

-Was expansion into the Sun Belt a good idea? So far….NO! BUT, not every expansion team was a bad idea, and grabbing TV revenue in different parts of the US has boosted the sport’s following.

On the flip side, IMO

Revenue sharing is the equivalent of welfare. And my own Pittsburgh Pirates of MLB are the equivalent of a family abusing the system so they can continue to make a profit and not spend their own money. Because of it I’ve had to sit through 20 losing seasons and THAT infuriates me more than anything else in sports. (Outside of goaltender’s padding looking like the michelin man.)

Now I’m actually with you regarding Bettman’s self centered motives, but his motives are no different any player’s motives when they enter free agency and create bidding wars. If the geese are doing it it’s hypocritical to complain about the gander.

IMO this lockout was driven by the smaller teams inability to compete with deals handed out by wealthier teams to circumvent the cap plus the overly rapid rise of the salary cap floor because of the escalator clause.

Now, we’re the owner’s morons to think that teams wouldn’t try to circumvent the cap with deals that pay 11 million in the first 4 four years and 1 million in the last three. Absolutely! And does all of this still stem from greed? Without a doubt!

But like you said “the owner’s financial standing is tied to the leagues fiscal success.” So, Fehr is still the greater evil to me. Not Bettman.

Any cancelled game is significant. It’s lost revenue that they are fighting for. I have a feeling the NHL won’t make as much as they did last year for a long time now. Owners and NHLPA both deserve a slap in the face.

This lockout is the result of two moneyed interests refusing to acknowledge just how unseemly it looks to be fighting over the hard earned cash of fans who often have to dig deep into their pocket-or savings-to enjoy the product they are currently refusing to provide during these difficult economic times. It would be different if this was the first time this had happened, but it is the third time in less than twenty years. The economic impact to establishments and individuals who make a modest wage based upon this league’s existience seems to be of no concern to the people fighting over our billions.

It’s the latest example of the NHL proving just why they are a distant fourth among the big four American sporting leagues. What good is a league that refuses to compromise, get it’s act together or respect the fans who make it all possible? I’m flat out tired of the failures this league insists on inflicting upon itself-and there is enough blame to go around for everyone involved. I will be back, at some point, but each time this league lets me down it also wears me down.

I can’t help but feel that a lot of other NHL fans who have invested their time, money and emotion feel the same way. Either way, I’m far less willing to spend any of those three things on the NHL this season.

comeonnowguys - Oct 12, 2012 at 11:29 AM

Pox on both their houses. May both sides look up at the scattered empty seats next year and know they both had a hand in it.

erika29 - Oct 12, 2012 at 12:05 PM

I’m so tired of this. Life is tough in the real world and all I want is to be able to share the game of hockey with my family as a distraction. The NHL and NHLPA have not only taken the game away from us, but they’ve tainted my love for it. We live on a single military salary and the money we spend on the NHL is a sacrifice. We won’t be spending it anymore.

The NHL & NHLPA abuse us with lockouts and threats of lost seasons.
We fans cry foul, demand justice and stand up for ourselves.
The NHL & NHLPA (eventually) apologize and give us back our hockey.
We fans forget about the pain and injustice, and crawl back into the arms of the NHL all over again.

It’s pure bliss until the next lock-out. That won’t happen though. They changed for the better, right???

As a Pittsburgh fan this stings. We have had no baseball for 20 years. Now this again. Getting tired of this NHL and nhlpa. The 180 or so for NHL center ice. Will be well spent on other things, knew when fehr got involved this was going to happen. And u r right phillyfanatic. Your whole post was dead on. Lower ticket prices. Haha Gary. Arm and a leg to attend NHL game

Philly. Great stuff. I had heard one of the main culprits is that cheapskate Jeremy Jacobs in Boston. Who btw owns Delaware north. So he makes cash off most of us at each game if Delaware north is at that arena or stadium